


Rewriting the Terms

by L_Greene



Series: Coming to Terms [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Multi, i'll add other tags as they come up, lots of fucking, mentions and examples of emotional abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-31
Updated: 2014-08-15
Packaged: 2018-01-10 16:14:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1161851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/L_Greene/pseuds/L_Greene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The long-awaited sequel to "Coming to Terms"! Eridan and Sollux are finding their places in each others' lives, but with Vriska's ever-present drama, will their fledgling relationship last? E for language, sex, and other adult themes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Act 1

_**Saturday morning** _

Eridan woke up before Sol the next morning and stumbled into the bathroom to shower. He hadn't showered the night before, meaning his hair was still stiff with product, and he felt generally nasty and in need of a shower—especially after all the sweating the previous evening brought with it. He grinned a bit to himself at that.

It wasn't so bad, all things considered. Yeah, it had felt weird at first, but once he got used to it, it ended up feeling pretty damn good. Cuddling up to Sol after had been nice, too. He'd never really thought of himself as a cuddly individual, but then again, he'd never really thought of himself as bisexual, either. Maybe it was just Sol's influence on him, but he didn't object to it.

Upon entering the tiny bathroom, he was pleased to discover that his boyfriend kept it clean. It definitely would have bothered him if he had another Cro on his hands, although based on the rest of the equally-tiny apartment, he shouldn't have worried.

He hunted for towels, stripped out of the sweatpants Sol had so kindly provided, and got into the shower. He scrubbed the gel out of his hair with Sol's shampoo. Honey-scented, he wasn't surprised to discover. Sol apparently didn't believe in conditioner, though, so he made a mental note to bring it the next time he happened to stay over.

 _Or I could buy some and leave it here_ , he reasoned to himself. After all, it wasn't like Sol would use it—although if he did, he wouldn't be upset. It might even be nice to run his fingers through Sol's hair after it was freshly-conditioned. It would make it that much softer.

He stepped out of the shower and quickly toweled off. Normally, he would blow-dry his hair, but he'd left his hairdryer at Cro's apartment and he knew that expecting Sol to have one of his own was too much to hope for. Besides, it wasn't like he was planning on going anywhere anytime soon. They'd probably stay in all day.

Eridan hoped Monday never came. He'd be content with spending a very long time here with Sol.

As he wrapped the towel around his waist, his stomach let out an unseemly growl and he realized just how long it had been since he'd last eaten. Sol would probably be hungry, too, but as he ducked back into the bedroom, he noted that his boyfriend was still fast asleep. Sometime in the forty-five minutes he'd been in the bathroom, though, Sol had scooted into the middle of the bed and snuggled into the warm spot that Eridan had left. That was kind of cute, actually.

He dug into his backpack for a notebook and a pen. As quietly as he could, he scribbled out a quick note to Sol and left it on the pillow.

_hey sol wwent to go get breakfast ill be back soon dont wworry about me_

_eridan_

For a moment, he briefly contemplated putting " _lovve, eridan_ " but, considering Sol's tendency to read way too far into things (see: Cro's offhand comment referring to Sol as Eridan's boyfriend), he opted to leave it out. He didn't want to send Sol into palpitations just yet.

He was just strolling out of the bedroom when he remembered he was still in just a towel. Feeling stupid, he backtracked, changed back into the jeans and shirt he'd been wearing the night before (sans underwear and socks), stuffed his feet into his shoes, and donned his pea coat, twirling his keys around his finger. He took Sol's door key from where he'd tossed it the night before on the living room/dining room table and stuck it in his pocket as well so he could get back inside later.

"Later" ended up being nearly an hour as he waited in line at a small bistro called The Broken Yolk down the street, placed his order to go (he had no idea what Sol would want, so he got coffee and a vegetarian omelet for himself and another omelet and an order of pancakes just in case Sol gagged on the eggs), and finally wandered back to the apartment.

Nothing had changed since he'd left, so he figured Sol was still asleep. He set the apartment key and their bagged breakfasts on the table and peeled off his coat when Sol wandered in, wearing nothing but his boxers and Eridan's ring. He didn't even have his glasses. "Oh, good, you're awake," Eridan said, draping his coat over a chair and gesturing to the food. "I got break—"

He was cut off when Sol closed the not-substantial distance between them and kissed him, cupping his face with both hands. Eridan let out a faint gasp before melting into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Sol and letting himself lean into the taller boy.

It was nice to just stand there with Sol against him. They fit together well, and even the allure of his omelet wasn't enough to pull him away from the kiss, not just yet. It had been a long time since he'd felt so comfortable with someone besides Fef and he reveled in it. Sol's bare torso was still warm through Eridan's shirt and the cold from outside made him want to snuggle into him.

One of Sol's hands began playing through his hair and Eridan suddenly remembered that he hadn't put any gel in it after getting out of the shower. He'd completely forgotten to put it up and he'd gone out into public with it hanging into his eyes—but Sol was reverently stroking it, so he found he didn't mind much. It didn't look bad, after all, just different.

He nibbled on Sol's lower lip and Sol sighed against his cheek and all at once, the whole tone shifted. Eridan dug his nails into Sol's back and pressed his hips to the other boy's and couldn't help grinding against him. Sol didn't seem to mind—his other hand found its way to the hem of Eridan's shirt and tugged it up and over Eridan's head, knocking his glasses askew, but Eridan just pulled them off and set them on the table.

"I take it you're not hungry," Eridan joked against Sol's lips.

Sol's mouth quirked up in a half-smile. "Not for food, anyway. Not right now."

A thrill ran through Eridan when he said that. It had been a long time since anyone had wanted him, either—he'd missed the feeling. He'd missed wanting someone with that same intensity, too. He'd missed Sol. "I know what you mean. I could hold off on breakfast." It would be cold by the time they got around to eating it, but that was why microwaves had been invented.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

The journey back to Sol's room was a blur. He almost tripped trying to take off his shoes, but Sol caught him just in time. Sol started working on his jeans a few feet before the doorway, lightly dragging his fingers over Eridan's half-hard dick, but stopped when he realized that he'd gone commando.

"It's okay," Eridan murmured, keeping Sol's hands in place. "I don't mind."

Sol nodded slightly and finished unzipping Eridan's jeans. The pants ended up on the floor right outside the bedroom and Eridan shivered slightly from both cold and nerves but pressed himself up against Sol to keep warm.

They pulled the blankets up over themselves when they crawled back into bed and Eridan tried to relax—he'd enjoyed this the night before, after all—but as Sol reached for the lube that was on the nightstand, he still trembled a bit. At least until Sol leaned over him and kissed him again, cradling the back of his neck and soothing him. Sol would be careful. He always was—almost too careful.

He let out a ragged keening sound as Sol slid his first lubricant-slicked finger inside him, and then a second. It didn't take as long this morning to get him spread open, and by the time Sol had three fingers sliding almost obscenely easily into him, there was a heat twisting through his gut and he couldn't stop moaning. He was utterly incapable of staying quiet and he hoped Sol had thick walls but he was quickly descending into the realm of not caring at all who heard him.

Sol was murmuring in his ear, white-hot praises that raised the hair on the back of his neck, unable for all his control to keep the edge out of his voice. Eridan could hear it and he felt the unmistakeable hardness of Sol's cock pressing against his thigh through his boxers and _why the Hell is Sol still wearing those?_ He knew what would happen next and he wanted it, he knew without a doubt that he wanted to go all the way with Sol.

He bit his lip and clenched his fist, trying to keep himself contained, but when Sol dragged his fingers firmly across his prostate, the same spot he'd hit so sweetly the night before, he whined and sank his nails into Sol's thigh. "Please," he whimpered. "Sol..."

"Yeah?" he asked softly, his breath hot against Eridan's ear.

"Sol... fuck me... _please_..." He probably sounded desperate and pathetic but he didn't care—he was burning and only Sol could stop it, only Sol could keep him from drowning in his desire.

He exhaled sharply. "You sure?"

Eridan briefly considered trying to be witty, but he didn't have the brainpower for it. "I am everythin' but unsure, ass. Are you gonna fuck me or not?"

Sol leaned back, grinning, and gently withdrew his fingers. "I think I can handle that."

Eridan grinned back and sat up, throwing an arm around his boyfriend to kiss the side of his neck. Sol let out what was most likely an involuntary giggle and shimmied out of his underwear, awkwardly turning his head to return a kiss of his own; his lips ended up in Eridan's hair, and the shorter boy was grateful he hadn't put any product in his hair this morning.

"Ready?" Sol breathed as he squirted more lube in his hand, and Eridan nodded. His nerves were starting to return, but he wasn't nervous enough to want to stop. Sol wouldn't hurt him. He knew he'd be okay in Sol's arms.

Sol kissed his lips lightly. "Lie back, okay? It's still gonna feel weird."

Eridan nodded again and did as Sol asked. He kept his eyes locked on his boyfriend as he slicked up his cock and leaned over him.

"Stop me if it hurts too much, okay?"

"Okay."

Satisfied, Sol balanced on one elbow as he used his other hand to guide himself into Eridan.

He kept his eyes open, and he was so glad he did. Sol's eyes locked with his and it made the moment even more intimate and sweet. He whimpered but didn't tell Sol to stop—he didn't _want_ Sol to stop. He loved the way Sol felt inside him, filling him with heat, and he wasn't used to the sensation, his brain was melting away, but he could definitely get used to it. He pulled Sol down and bit the curve where his neck met shoulder, and suddenly Sol let out a shaky moan and started moving, slowly beginning to thrust into him, and Eridan whined, closing his eyes but still clinging to Sol.

"Oh, _God_ , yeah, fuck, please— _harder—_ fuck, feels so good, keep goin', oh, my God— _fuck_ —!" He became dimly aware of the words pouring out of his mouth and into Sol's skin without conscious control but he couldn't stop talking even if he wanted to. Sol groaned every time he was fully hilted inside him and it was better than he'd imagined that night not too long ago when he jerked off thinking about Sol. He dizzily wondered what Sol would say if he knew Eridan had masturbated to thoughts of him and decided to tell him later, if only to see his reaction. He couldn't tell him right now, though—he could barely summon the brainpower to do more than spew obscenities and bury his nails into Sol's back and hope that he left a hickey. After all, Sol had left enough on him that he figured it was time to return the favor.

"Eridan," Sol breathed in his ear, and he couldn't call to mind a single time that he'd ever called him by his full first name. _Ampora_ , sure, and _ED_ , lots of times, but he couldn't remember one time that Sol had ever called him _Eridan_. It was hot, though, and Eridan smiled to himself.

And then Sol gave one, two, three quick, hard thrusts into him and the grin slipped off Eridan's face and that familiar heat snaking through his stomach went lower and Sol was still giving those brain-frying thrusts into him and for a few seconds, Eridan felt like he was floating and his mouth finally released Sol's skin and he was moaning, squeezing Sol's sides with his knees, and he was coming ( _How_? He didn't even think it was possible, not after only a few minutes—he wasn't _that_ easy, was he?) and twisting his fingers into Sol's hair and everything seemed to melt away.

Sol panted against his chest and Eridan realized that burn hadn't quite gone—Sol must have come, too. He eased out of Eridan and they both groaned softly, but their eyes locked again and Sol smiled, reaching up to brush Eridan's bangs out of his eyes. " _Now_ I think I want food."

Eridan snorted with laughter.

* * *

_**Saturday afternoon** _

It still ended up being after one before either of them got back out of bed. They both fell back asleep and Sol must have woken up a few minutes before him because Eridan woke up to Sol returning with the pancakes and an omelet on one plate and the other omelet on another. All of it was steaming—Sol must have put it in the microwave—as was the cup of coffee he handed to Eridan, and they ate in silence, stacking their plates on the nightstand when they were done.

Then Eridan climbed into Sol's lap and kissed him and neither of them got back out of bed for another three hours.

* * *

_**Saturday evening** _

They pulled themselves together long enough to get dressed (Eridan borrowed a black tee, a pair of jeans that were just a little long in the leg, and a beanie to hide his no-product, just-had-sex-twice hair), go out, and get more food before they came back to the apartment. They sat in front of the bed and watched _The Exorcist_ as they ate, laughing at the ridiculous deaths and the projectile vomiting.

The rug burn on his knees and elbows long after the credits rolled was well worth it, although dragging his boneless body back into bed before he fell asleep was a chore. Sol's arms around him made up for it, though.

* * *

_**Sunday morning** _

Eridan woke up before Sol again the next morning and briefly considered going out for breakfast, but he was sore from the day before and decided against it. He knew Sol had cereal or something laying around—he didn't need a hot breakfast (except for coffee—that he definitely needed).

Fortunately, Sol's minimal cooking skills extended to oatmeal and toast, and while it wasn't The Broken Yolk, it beat going hungry, especially after all the calories they'd both burned on Saturday. Eridan stayed in bed like the prince that he was and let Sol bring him food.

Halfway through _Hot Fuzz_ , he was distracted by Sol's hand on his knee, working its way up to his thigh and in between his legs, and he was so preoccupied with screaming Sol's name until he was hoarse that he didn't realize the movie had ended until hours later.

* * *

_**Sunday afternoon** _

"Help me clean up these dishes," Sol said, nudging him with his foot.

Eridan groaned and rolled over. "You want me to do dishes? I think I can barely walk."

"That was like four hours ago. It wasn't that bad." Then a slightly worried look crossed Sol's face. "Was it?"

Eridan grinned. "Sol, I dunno if you realize this, but you kinda got the whole 'monster dick' thing goin' on. I'm thinkin' about callin' you Equius, actually."

Sol went red and buried his face in his pillow. "I didn't need to be reminded about that guy's horse cock, thank you."

"Ah, I can probably take the dishes to the sink, but if you think for one second that I am washin' a single one a' them, you got another thing comin'."

"I'm washing, you're drying. You helped dirty up these dishes."

Eridan couldn't deny his logic (no matter how much he wanted to), so he pulled himself out of bed and helped Sol with the dishes. The only problem with that was that neither of them had bothered to put on pants in the meantime, so by the time the dishes were washed and half-dried, Eridan was sneaking up behind Sol and biting on his neck, running his fingers over Sol's "monster dick."

Sol sprinted back to the bedroom long enough to get the lubricant, but they ended up fucking on the kitchen floor and Eridan pretended he didn't feel a perverse sense of satisfaction about that.

* * *

_**Sunday evening** _

It was stupidly late. He tried to slip into the apartment as quietly as possible to avoid waking Cro, but it was a useless gesture because Cro was still awake, sitting in front of the TV with his head still bandaged and his face in a devious grin.

"Hey, little monster. Where've _you_ been all weekend?"

"Sol's," Eridan answered quickly, suddenly hyper-aware of the missing ring that had been on his right ring finger. Sol still had it. Eridan secretly hoped he would have it for a good long while.

"Really? You have fun?"

Cro was still grinning and Eridan's giddy mood was rapidly waning. He did not want to deal with this bullshit right now. "Yes, I had fun. Now, I am goin' to sleep." He stood up a little straighter and went to his room, pointedly ignoring the way Cro snickered at his slight, albeit noticeable, limp. There was no way Cro didn't know what Eridan's definition of "having fun" meant now.

He closed the door behind him, locked it, and grinned. He'd had sex with Sol (multiple times), and he'd liked it.

Fef was going to flip out.


	2. Act 2

Sollux woke up alone on Monday morning, but he hadn't expected to. True, he remembered that Eridan had gone home the night before, but his first instinct when his alarm went off was to reach for his boyfriend and cuddle a few moments longer.

So when he threw out his arm only to have it flop against empty mattress, it was with an unpleasant bump that he remembered he was alone. _Fuck._ He really had it bad for Eridan if it had only taken him a weekend to adjust so wholly to his presence. He rubbed his eyes, reached for his glasses, and wondered if Eridan felt weird waking up in his own bed for once.

He reluctantly rolled out of bed a few minutes later and started getting ready for school. Aradia would be—

_Shit._ Abruptly, he remembered that he hadn't contacted her since early Saturday morning. She hadn't messaged him, either, but he was sure he was going to catch hell for staying out of contact all weekend. He'd have to give her details. Not enough to dispel the intimacy of his weekend (he still grinned when he remembered the way Eridan had looked the first time, and how he'd apparently liked it so much that he started it again two more times), but enough so that she knew he'd been thoroughly preoccupied most of the time.

It would be an interesting conversation, to be sure.

He wanted to see Eridan again, hopefully before class this morning, but that was probably too much to expect. It wasn't that he had to spend every waking (and non-waking) moment with him, but he liked the idea either way.

He made it to campus with plenty of time to locate Aradia at her table sitting at her own table with _A Dance with Dragons_ spread out in front of her. He opened his mouth to apologize for his lack of contact all weekend, but she somehow saw it even with her head down and she held up a hand for silence.

He closed his mouth, shrugged, and pulled out his 3DS from his backpack. He was perfectly fine with not explaining himself right now. It just gave him more time to bask in the afterglow of his weekend.

Unfortunately, the basking was cut short far too early with the approach of one Vriska Serket to his table, trailed by the girl with the round glasses and buckteeth that he'd seen last week, and he put away his 3DS, bracing for an altercation of some kind. Aradia noticed them, too, and she closed up her book and sat up a little straighter, leveling a dark glare at Vriska.

And then Vriska said to Sollux, "I need your help."

As he stood up, the words flew out of his mouth before he could stop them. "Why the fuck would I help _you_?"

Vriska crossed her arms over her chest, her eye narrowing. "Look, Captor, I know you don't like me. I get it. Fine. But maybe you should consider the fact that not everything revolves around—"

"Vris," the other girl said gently, putting a hand on her arm. "Wait." She stepped in between Vriska and Sollux, which was fortunate because he'd begun to contemplate punching her in the face. "Sollux, my name is Jade. I'm a close friend of Vriska's as well as friends with Dave Strider. He was actually the one who told me to talk to you about this. I guess you're friends with Eridan Ampora and Kanaya Maryam, and I know that Vriska hurt them both and so you're inclined to be angry at her, but you don't know the whole story. It's... complicated." She paused for a moment, drumming her fingers on the tabletop. "Basically, what it boils down to is this: Vriska is not entirely at fault for her past actions. She was egged on—"

"Don't you fucking _dare_ blame this on ED _or_ KN," Sollux snapped.

Jade's hands flew up. "I'm not, I promise! It's Aranea, Vriska's sister. I've actually met her myself and she has this really disgusting ability to emotionally manipulate people, including Vriska, okay? Try to imagine not having a single friend for eight years, all you have is your sister telling you that she's the only person you can trust. Wouldn't that fuck you up? At least a little?"

Sollux glanced over her shoulder at Vriska. She still had her arms crossed over her chest but her shoulders had slumped slightly. He was reluctant to believe Jade or buy into _any_ of this crap, but he supposed he couldn't dismiss the possibility that she was even partly right.

"Maybe," he muttered.

Jade sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Anyway, a few nights ago, someone killed Vriska's pet tarantula and we're pretty sure it was Aranea because I came over for dinner and... well, like I said, Aranea doesn't like Vriska having friends. So it was partly out of retaliation and partly to send a message. The only thing is, we can't prove it. So we need your help in order to actually gather the proof and hopefully pass it along to someone who can help Aranea because she's probably severely unbalanced."

"My help."

"Yeah. We have all this surveillance equipment we bought this weekend and... we can discuss the details later, I guess, but please, will you at least think about it? Vris really isn't as bad as you think, I promise."

He got the distinct feeling he was being played, but he nodded anyway. "Fine. I'll talk to ED about it." His own reservations with Vriska aside, he definitely wasn't about to help out the spider-bitch if it meant pissing off Eridan (which he suspected it would, so that resolved that problem right there). Right now, he was the one that really mattered—Kanaya, too. John and Tavros, he wasn't so close with, but he was pretty sure no one would be too thrilled with the idea of helping Vriska do _anything_ , even seeking revenge against a sister who was possibly more emotionally manipulative than Vriska herself.

"Okay. Thanks." Jade smiled, turned, grabbed Vriska's arm, and tugged her away.

Sollux waited until they'd left the cafeteria before exhaling sharply and dropping back into his chair.

"You aren't actually thinking about _helping_ her, are you?" Aradia demanded.

"Fuck, I don't know. ED's probably going to hate the idea anyway so it doesn't really make a difference. Even if Jade _is_ telling the truth and she's not as huge a bitch as we all think."

"I highly doubt that."

"I'm going to talk to him about it anyway. I still don't know what they expect me to do, but surveillance... that sounds like some private investigator-type crap to me."

"Also possibly illegal," Aradia pointed out.

"That, too." He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Fuck. Well, that kind of takes some of the excitement out of the weekend."

Aradia propped her elbows up on the table, a small smirk beginning to tug at the corner of her mouth. "Speaking of which, I wondered what happened after Friday night. You just kind of dropped off the face of the Earth. What happened?"

"Well... ED was over all weekend."

"Gonna need a little bit more than that."

"Well, we didn't do much. Watched a couple of movies, went out to eat... had sex," he added quietly, but naturally, that didn't escape her attention.

"Look at me. Sollux, look at me. Did you just say that you actually had sex with Eridan this weekend?"

Blushing a bit, Sollux nodded. He grinned. "Yeah. Um... five times, actually."

She put her hand over her mouth to stifle a shrill giggle. "Oh, my God, _five times_? That is the single greatest excuse I can think of for you not texting me all weekend. Five raunchy escapades—Jesus Christ, no wonder you couldn't get to your phone! You must have been fucking his brains out nonstop! Or he must have been fucking yours out—I don't know, I wasn't there!" she added with another giggle.

Sollux groaned and dropped his forehead to the table, but there was still a faint smile on his face. "Yeah, anyway, he went home last night since he had to feed his fish but all in all, I think it was a weekend well-spent."

"Good, I'm glad."

"So what did _you_ do all weekend?" he asked, hoping to deflect some of the attention from himself.

He didn't think it was possible for her grin to turn any more mischievous, but apparently, he was wrong. "Well, like you, I spent a substantial amount of time with my boyfriend. And, like you, I spent a substantial amount of that time fucking _his_ brains out."

"Oh, my dear sweet Jesus," Sollux muttered. "I _really_ shouldn't have told you that."

"Maybe not, but it's too late now! Anyway, aside from the fantastic and gratuitous sex—"

"Please shut up—"

"—we also bounced around a few more ideas for Thanksgiving. Apparently, Equius's parents will be on the East Coast, meaning that Horuss—Equius's brother, remember him?"

"Um, no? Should I?"

"He helped make those glasses, butthead!" To emphasize her point, she flicked the side of his glasses.

"Oh. Right, now I remember."

"Anyway, he'll be spending Thanksgiving with Equius, and Nepeta's mother and her sister were planning on being there, too. And you know Thanksgiving isn't a big deal with my family, so I'm going to be there, as well. So we were talking about opening it up to everyone, basically—all our friends, anyway. If they don't have other plans, or if they want to drop by after they're done with the family thing. Obviously, this includes you and fish-boy."

Sollux rubbed his forehead. He didn't particularly relish the prospect of seeing Mituna again anytime soon, not after the disaster of Terezi's birthday party and him dropping by unannounced on Halloween. That also wasn't how he'd wanted Eridan to meet him—Sollux had wanted to brace him, tell him gently that there was basically a clone of him running around (or, rather, that he was the clone since Mituna was technically six minutes older), but that wasn't possible anymore. At least their first meeting hadn't been anywhere near as embarrassing as the first time Sollux met Cronus—getting caught in Eridan's lap making out with him wasn't exactly the way he would have chosen to meet the elder Ampora.

And then there was the other awkward question of whether or not they would even be spending Thanksgiving together. Once it rolled around, they would only have been dating for about a month, so wasn't that rushing it a bit? He wasn't sure he was ready to meet Eridan's parents or have Eridan meet his mom. "I might be there," he said finally. "It depends on what my mom has planned. And I don't know if ED will be with me or not. It might be... I don't know, a little early, right?"

"Maybe," Aradia admitted with a shrug, "but it's not like this is a huge formal thing, you know? And you two could do your own things with your own parents and then meet up with us. It's just potentially going to be a a bunch of friends, so very low-pressure and everything. I wouldn't worry about it too much, hon—it's going to be fun!"

Sollux bit his lip and nodded. "Hopefully."

"Oh, calm down. You were all doom and gloom about the party at Eridan's house and you came out of the deal with a boyfriend, so how do you know this is going to be all bad?"

"I don't think it's going to be all bad, it's just... holidays kind of suck for me, I guess. Not really sure I want to drag another person into that."

"It'll be fine, Sollux, I promise. Just talk to Eridan about it—and I guess about the shit with Vriska. That's probably important to resolve pretty quick." She ran her fingers through his hair. "I really don't think you have much to worry about, though. Now, I have to go to class, but if you want to hang out for lunch or after school or something, just text me. I don't know what your plans are with Eridan—probably another round of rabid lovemaking—"

"Oh, my fucking God, AA, please do not ever use the phrase 'rabid lovemaking' again—I feel like I'm about to puke—"

"But if you find some time in between your steamy sexathon sessions, just let me know!" With a giggle, Aradia tossed her book into her backpack and sailed out of the cafeteria, leaving Sollux feeling rather much like a tornado had just swept over campus.


	3. Act 3

"So, what did you end up doin' all weekend?" Eridan asked.

"Oh, not much, just watched a lot of movies and relaxed. After all the drama of the past few weeks, I kind of needed a break, you know?" Fef said.

The two of them were outside on the lawn, basking in the unusual warmth for early November. It definitely wasn't as warm as a few weeks before, but it definitely wasn't cold enough to warrant the scarf that Eridan had draped around his neck. It didn't matter, though—the temperature wasn't the reason for the scarf. As it turned out, Sol had left quite a few hickeys over the weekend, and though Eridan absolutely didn't mind them, he didn't want a bunch of random strangers and classmates guessing how much sex he'd had recently.

She nonchalantly took a swig from her water bottle. "And what were _you_ doing?"

The words flew out of his mouth before he could stop himself—it was just his luck for being more witty than most people. "Sol, mostly." The second he spoke, his eyes widened and he clapped a hand over his mouth, but the damage was done. She turned to face him, practically pouncing on him.

" _Sol_? Did you say you were doing _Sollux_?"

"Um," he said, but before he could confirm or deny it, she'd tugged his scarf away from his skin and got an eyeful of the hickeys. She grinned.

" _Whale_ , _whale_ , _whale_. Someone's been _very_ busy this weekend, haven't they?"

"Yeah, okay, I admit it, I slept with him," he said, holding up his hands defensively. "I just... I dunno, I didn't wanna make a big deal over it."

She settled back into the grass. "Good to know, I'm _reel_ happy for you, but now you have to tell me all the gritty little details."

Eridan felt his face heating up as he tugged his scarf back into place. "L-like what?"

Her grinned widened. "What position?"

"The first time?"

This was obviously the wrong thing to say because she looked like she was about to have a heart attack. "There was more than one time?"

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose to disguise his blush. "Five times."

Fef squeaked. "So your whole weekend was basically spent in a two-man orgy?"

"Oh, my fuckin' _God_ , Fef, it wasn't..." He trailed off. Aside from sleeping, meals, and a few movies (and that one attempt to do dishes), he and Sol had done literally nothing but have sex. Her assessment actually wasn't too far off the mark. "Okay, shut up. That's not the point."

She cackled and attempted to mess up his hair. "Okay, fish, first time."

"W-well, nothin' too crazy, just... um, missionary, I guess. God, Fef, really?"

She snorted with laughter and gave him a hug. "I'm sorry, fishy, if it makes you that uncomforta _bubble_ , I'll stop."

"It's okay, just... maybe try not to laugh at me, okay?"

"Okay, fishy, I won't laugh." Her smile came back. "Does that mean I can ask you more depraved questions about your renewed sex life?"

He closed his eyes. "One more question, so make it good."

"Okay, _fine_." She crossed her arms and looked up, trying to decide on a question, and Eridan got the feeling that he was going to regret letting her go on with her interrogation. Finally, she dropped her arms. "Final question. Out of all five times, which one was the best?"

That actually was a pretty good question. He thought it over for a minute. The first time had points because it _was_ the first time, and the one time in the kitchen had the added thrill of not even being in Sol's bedroom, and he had to admit that the time in the middle of _The Exorcist_ had left pleasant rug burns on his skin. Still, the best time was probably the second time. He'd liked climbing into Sol's lap and riding him for all he was worth. Plus, he _really_ liked the adoring way Sol had looked up at him. _We'll have to do that more often_ , he told himself.

"Hey, earth to fish-face," Fef said, poking his shoulder. "You zoning out on me? Or are you just reliving some erotic memories?"

"No!" Eridan said quickly even though he was blushing and he actually _had_ been "reliving some erotic memories." "I was just... thinkin'. So. Best time was the second time."

"Ooh, why?"

"Why are you askin'?"

"Because! I want to make sure my best _frond's_ _buoyfrond_ is taking care of him... in all suitably appropriate ways," she added with a salacious grin.

"There was nothin' even remotely 'appropriate' about it, but yeah, it was great."

" _Whale_ , I had an _eel_ ing that it was great considering you said your _shell_ f that you fucked him five times, but seriously. What was different with it?" She drew her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them, peering at him sideways.

"I was sittin' in his lap, so I guess I was dominatin' it, but... I dunno. At the risk a' soundin' cheesy as fuck, I think we had a better connection that time. The way he was lookin' at me... Okay, yeah, I'm done."

Fef let out an _"Aww!"_ and giggled. "That's actually adora _bubble_! It sounds like he likes you a lot, huh?"

"Yeah, it certainly seems that way," Eridan said. _Which is a good thing, because I like_ him _a lot, too._ Actually, now that he was thinking about it, he was pretty sure he didn't just _like_ Sol, but it seemed to be in poor taste to let Fef know before Sol knew that he was in love with him. Besides that, he didn't know how Sol really felt about him aside from liking him enough to take his time (and then pound him into the mattress when he asked for it), and it had only been like a week anyway. It was entirely likely that Sol wasn't in love with him right now—which made sense. He seemed like more of a level-headed guy than Eridan was.

"Good. Now, back to me," Fef said. She flipped her hair back and straightened up.

"Yes, back to you, princess," Eridan joked.

She flicked his ear playfully. "I was _glubbing_ with Nepeta this weekend—she's a real sweetheart, by the way, a total babe—and since she's got this thing with John and Dave and I have been _glubbing_ about seeing a movie together and John and Dave are _fronds_ anyway, the four of us are going to double-date, probably Wednesday night. _Reel_ ly low-key, no big deal, just a cool first date with a group of _fronds_."

"Well, that's good. If you start havin' trouble, you'll have Nep there to defend you. Or Eq." He was abruptly reminded of his comment the day before to Sol about him having a horse cock and couldn't suppress a grin.

"Equius _whale_ not be there!" Fef said, waving her arms. "Nepeta says he'll pro _bubbly_ glare menacingly at John and she doesn't want that. He doesn't get to judge John until the second date. Besides, it's my first date with Dave and Nepeta's first date with John, and Aradia and Equius have already been on a few dates. That isn't fair. First-daters only!"

Eridan had to stifle a laugh. "Okay, princess, _clam_ down."

She stuck her tongue out at him but grinned. "I know you're just jealous! You want to come with us, don't you?"

"Nah, I'm perfectly happy with fuckin' my boyfriend at his place all weekend an' _not_ goin' to jail for public indecency."

" _Whale_ good for you." She stuck out her tongue again.

"Nah, but I'm happy for you. It's been awhile since you've been on a date, either, right?"

"Yeah, I can't even remember the last... eh, whatever. I'm glad for a change, though."

* * *

After the two of them went their separate ways for class (he heading off to Photography and praying he could still somehow avoid Vris, and she lingering on the grass for a short time longer before her physics class), Eridan adjusted and readjusted his scarf about five times before deciding he couldn't prolong it anymore. He slunk into the classroom and, instead of going to the back like he usually did, he set his bag down at the desk next to Kanaya's. She looked up at him in surprise at first, but her expression quickly shifted to something far more pleased.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Eridan," she said quietly as he sat down.

"I _am_ takin' this class, Kan," he said. "Why wouldn't I be here?"

"I admit that I contemplating skipping this class myself. It _is_ still seven minutes to go, but there has been no sign of Vriska. I have been hoping to avoid her as well, however."

"Heh. Yeah, I know exactly what you're sayin'. I'm hopin' she doesn't show up, either."

Unfortunately for them, Vriska did end up arriving to class, sliding into her seat just seconds before the teacher closed the door. For once, though, the spider-bitch didn't look around or try to catch either of their eyes. She just sat down, pulled out her laptop, and plugged in her camera—a handheld Nikon, Eridan noted with a smug sense of satisfaction. It figured that she wouldn't shell out the money for a really good, professional-looking Canon.

"This is unusual," Kanaya murmured.

"Yeah, why isn't she givin' us evil looks an' stuff?"

"I couldn't fathom, but I'm extremely puzzled."

He anxiously tugged at his scarf again and tried to pay attention to the lesson, but Vriska's very presence made him nervous, so he pulled out his phone and sent a text message.

_hey sol youll nevver guess wwhat just happened_

_probably not but iim 2ure youre goiing two tell me anyway_

_shut up. vris just wwalked in an shes not doin anythin evven remotely threatenin i am wworried_

Sol's answer came back a few minutes later. _2he probably 2pent all that threateniing energy on me thii2 morniing_

_That_ wasn't what Eridan expected him to say. _wwhat do you mean? wwhat happened? she threatened you?_

_well no what happened wa2 2he and her friiend jade came up two aa and me and 2he gave u2 thii2 2tory about how her 2ii2ter ii2 the real eviil biitch and..._ The message ended with ellipses, and Eridan raised an eyebrow.

_yeah? and?_

_iim tryiing two fiigure out how two 2ay thii2 maybe iit2 better iif we talk iin per2on. iits a lot two handle okay_

_sol ngl that sounds really worryin ok_

_yeah yeah yeah ii know but iit2 nothiing really bad iit2 ju2t that youre probably not goiing two be very happy when ii explaiin_

_um sol ill be okay just tell me youre not plannin on breakin up wwith me because for some reason thats exactly wwhere i think this is goin_

_jegus fuck ed iim not breakiing up wiith you iit2 ju2t a lot two explaiin but vrii2ka ii2 at the center of iit and iit al2o kiind of explaiin2 ii thiink why 2he2 leaviing you alone_

_okay then i guess wwe can talk after class. wwhat time does yours end?_

_at 3:30 your2?_

_four. wwanna meet at the campu2 coffee 2hop an wwe can talk there?_

_yeah 2ound2 liike a plan iill meet you there_

Eridan set his phone on the desk and glanced anxiously toward Vriska again. As far as he knew, she hadn't so much as looked back at either him or Kanaya. It was nice, to be sure, but he didn't know _why_ she'd gone from harassing them at every turn to leaving them alone. _Maybe she just really likes this class_ , he thought, but he shook his head. It had to be more than that.

Vriska abruptly checked her phone, grinned (he could see the curve of her smile even from where he sat across the room), and began tapping the screen, presumably replying to a message.

_Maybe she's got a new target_ , he realized slowly. He didn't like that at all. She had to be stopped.


	4. Act 4

_if you want, my grandpa said you can come over whenever you want! he's actually been interested in meeting you ever since we started hanging out!_

Vriska couldn't help grinning at Jade's text message even though part of her was a little concerned with the prospect of meeting Jade's grandfather. It wasn't that she was _against_ it or anything—she just wasn't sure what Jade had told him about her. Also there was a tiny little problem of most adults she met not liking her.

Last weekend, Grandpa Harley had been traveling or out of town or something, Jade hadn't really explained, so Vriska hadn't had the opportunity to meet him then. She _had_ met Becquerel, Jade's hellbeast of a dog, and _he_ seemed to like her well enough, but the dog wasn't the problem.

_sure, sounds good! ::::)_

Of course, the most pressing problem was whether or not Sollux Captor was going to help her. He'd said he would talk to Eridan about helping her, though, and she was pretty sure she knew how _that_ idea would go over. She'd originally teased Eridan about Sollux being his boyfriend a few weeks ago as a joke, but apparently she'd hit the mark without realizing it. Which meant she had to start thinking about someone else to help with this, someone she could trust not to dime her out to her sister. The second one would probably be easier than the first, although she really didn't know where to start in the first place. She supposed she could have tried her own hand at setting up the cameras and set the video to be saved at Jade's place, but she didn't want to risk fucking anything up.

She wondered if Sollux had talked to Eridan yet. Probably not, since he hadn't come up to her with any wild accusations yet. Would he, though? So far, he and Kanaya had seemed more than content to just avoid her.

_Whatever. I'm over them both. I have way too many irons in the fire to deal with them._

As soon as their teacher dismissed them from class, Vriska was the first person out the door. She and Jade had already decided to meet after their last class of the day, meaning Jade waited around for an extra hour after her Economics class.

Jade greeted her by throwing her arms around her in a tight hug. "Hey, Vris! How was class?"

"Same as usual. Kanaya and Eridan sat in the back, looking like I kicked their puppies. What about yours?"

"Nothing quite as dramatic as you," Jade giggled. "Just discussing the feasibility of backing our currency with pumpkins, and then I took a nap in my car."

"Pumpkins, eh?"

"It was just a discussion! Obviously, it doesn't make sense for _real_ , but imagine there's a finite amount of pumpkins in the world, right? And they don't rot or anything, they just stay like they are. So as there's fewer and fewer, they become more and more valuable, soon surpassing gold in value."

"Those are some bomb-ass pumpkins, I guess," Vriska said. "Shoulda given them the ones in my living room."

Jade choked on a laugh and rested her head on Vriska's shoulder for a moment. "Okay, enough fooling around. Where to? My house? Your house?"

"I'm not picky." Actually, she wasn't too thrilled with the idea of going home right now, not with the threat of Aranea hanging around there, and especially not with Jade in tow—that would be a sure way to get Aranea angry, and without the silent protection of cameras recording any retaliation, Vriska didn't want to incur that, not just yet. "How about your house? Will your grandpa be there?"

Jade shrugged. "Probably. He was out hunting when I left this morning so he should be back by now." Her eyes lit up. "Why? You want to meet him today?"

If "want" meant "simultaneously anticipate and dread," then that was a yes. "Sure. I mean, if he has time."

Jade snorted with laughter. "He's old—he's got nothing _but_ time."

Vriska thought that was a little backwards, but Jade looked so sincere saying it that she didn't bother to correct her. "Alright, then I guess we can go hang out at your house."

"Cool!" Jade grabbed her arm and started tugging her along, and Vriska had to admit that even though it had been a long time since she'd had a real, actual friend, she was pretty sure they were not supposed to try to rip your arms out of their sockets. Still, Jade's solid presence near her was soothing, and she was willing to let it go. Besides, even with her buck teeth, Jade looked really pretty when she smiled.

Almost as soon as the thought floated into her head, she pushed it out. She was _not_ going to do this again. She couldn't ruin another perfectly good relationship with silly notions about making it more than it actually did. That was how she started dating Kanaya and John in the first place, and that had gotten her nothing but frustration. Admittedly, most of the frustration had been _her_ fault, but that was precisely why she needed to completely disregard any more-than-friendly feelings she might _accidentally_ start developing. She wasn't sure she knew how to actually be a halfway decent girlfriend to anyone—she was barely a decent friend.

"So why did you choose pumpkins?" Vriska asked as she tossed her backpack into the back seat of Jade's Sonata.

"Come again?"

"In your Econ class. Why did you go for pumpkins instead of corn or something?"

"Oh." Jade shrugged. "It was the first thing that was suggested, honestly." She grinned. "Actually, I suggested it. Did I show you the pumpkin patch I have growing in my greenhouse?"

"I didn't even know you _had_ a greenhouse."

"Oh! Yep, it's in the backyard! I'm sorry, I thought I showed you!"

"Well, in your defense, there were other things going on this weekend."

"Yeah, that's true. Ooh, I have more than just pumpkins, though! I have lots of other stuff in my greenhouse, like flowers and carrots and watermelons!"

"Why do you have so much stuff?"

"Because growing stuff is fun! It's really gratifying to take care of plants from the time they're seedlings and then watching them grow and know that without you, they wouldn't be there."

"I think my mom said that about having kids," Vriska joked.

Jade giggled. "There's a lot of similarities between the two, except it's generally frowned upon to eat your kids."

Vriska grinned. "I'm not sure—I think they would have made an exception in Aranea's case." Part of her felt a little bad for talking shit about her own sister, but then she reminded herself that Aranea _had_ killed her pet tarantula, and that put any guilt out of her mind.

Jade laughed that much harder, and Vriska felt rather pleased with herself. Maybe she wasn't a _terrible_ friend—she'd made Jade laugh, after all.

"So how much homework do you have to do tonight?" Jade asked suddenly.

"Oh, not much. A little more catch-up work for Photography, but that's about it. Why?"

"Well, I figured that if you're hungry, we could order a pizza while you're doing your homework or something. We could make a night of it."

That was actually a really good idea. Vriska liked it a lot—and she _still_ didn't want to go home right away. She thought about the tarantula sitting in the case at home waiting for her, and she wanted to go back even less. It wasn't _her_ Mindfang. It was just a stand-in, easily replaceable. She didn't hope it died or anything, but she didn't want to get attached just in case it did.

So she agreed, hoping she wouldn't get home until long after Aranea had fallen asleep.

* * *

"We still need to decide on what movie to _sea_ ," Feferi said, pulling out her phone. She pulled up the Fandango app and started scrolling through movies. "Any thoughts? The sooner I order tickets, the better."

Nepeta bounced in her seat. "I don't even know what's playing right _meow_!"

"Well, _Ender's Game_ just opened..."

"Mmm..." Nepeta tilted her head and then shook it. "Nah, I hate that guy."

"What guy?"

"Orson Scott Card, the guy who wrote the book! The book is great, and I really want to see the movie, but I refuse to give my money to that guy."

Feferi raised an eyebrow. "Why? What's so bad about him?"

"He's racist, he's anti-Semitic, and he's a total homophobe. He's already said he's donating a lot of money he makes from the movie to anti-Semetic and anti-LGBT charities. So like I said, I'll watch it, but _after_ I can torrent it."

"Wow, I didn't know all that." Feferi scowled at her phone. "Fuck that guy, then. Okay, there's... _Bad Grandpa_ , and _Carrie—_ I do want to _sea_ that! And _12 Years a Slave_ , that one looks pretty interesting... _Captain Phillips_ looked pretty good, too, and _Machete Kills—_ even though it has Charlie Sheen in it, I still want to _sea_ it. _Gravity_ , _Runner Runner_... anything catch your interest?"

"The boys would probably appreciate _Machete Kills_ ," Nepeta admitted. "But then again, Chloë Grace Moretz. Really leaning towards _Carrie_ here." She drummed her nails on the table. "What do you think?"

Feferi scratched her head. "I don't know—it's so hard to decide! _Machete Kills_ is pretty much guaranteed to be off-the-wall hysterical, but I have to agree with you about Chloë Moretz. I've wanted to _sea_ the remake for awhile now, act _shoal_ ly. _"_

"Should we flip a coin?"

The swimmer grinned. "I'm not sure—Terezi might be mad if we take her thing."

Nepeta giggled, and Feferi suddenly realized how close she was. The smaller girl had taken off her cat hat and left it on the table, leaving her short blond hair messy but rather adorable. Almost without conscious control, Feferi found her hand floating up to run her fingers through Nepeta's hair.

She'd half-expected Nepeta to give her a funny look, but she didn't. Instead, she closed her eyes with a lazy smile crossing her face as she put her head down, pillowed on her arms. After a few moments, she actually started purring quietly. _She's so cute!_ "That's adora _bubble_ ," she joked.

Nepeta opened one eye, her grin widening, before closing it again.

In an effort to distract herself from the abrupt uptick in her heart rate, she said, " _Whale_ , anyway, we don't have to decide right _meow_. But I figured you might be interested in knowing that, according to Eridan, the only thing he did all weekend was Sollux."

Nepeta had giggled again when Feferi used the cat pun, but now her head jerked up. "He did _what_?"

"Yeah! They apparently had sex this weekend. A _lot_ of it. Five times."

Nepeta smirked and stroked an imaginary beard. "Hmm, rather impressive. I'll be sure to congratulate them both on a job well done!"

Feferi snorted with laughter. "Eridan pro _bubbly_ won't be too thrilled I told you, but oh, _whale_. It's exciting! It's been awhile since he was this tolera _bubble_."

"Are you implying he's something _other_ than tolera _bubble_?" Nepeta joked.

Feferi tried not to feel too pleased that Nepeta had used one of her puns, but it was really hard. It was always a sure way to put her in a better mood, something Eridan employed when she was having a bad day. "Maybe... You know how he can be. Boys are so weird."

Nepeta cocked her head, a feat since Feferi was still playing with her hair. "Some of them, yeah. I've found Equius to actually be a bit... okay, yeah, he's weird, but it's a good weird. And he doesn't get moody or anything. Not like _Meow_ ster Am _purr_ a. Or _Meow_ ster _Catpurr_ , I guess."

" _Catpurr—_? Oh, Captor. Never mind." Feferi nodded. "True. And even Dave and John can get a little moody, too."

"And don't get me started on Kar _kitty_!" Nepeta added. "Oh, speaking of which, are you coming over for Thanksgiving?"

Feferi laughed. "That wasn't an awkward segue or any _fin_. But I haven't quite decided yet. I guess it all depends on what my mom's planning on doing, too. And a lot of other things, too. But I really want to come over!" She realized she was still stroking Nepeta's hair and pulled her hand away until Nepeta reached over, grabbed her hand, and put it back on her head.

" _Whale_ , figure it out soon," the shorter girl said. She playfully stuck out her tongue. "Equius and I are trying to figure out what to make for dinner."

"If I do end up going, I'll probably bring some _fin_ along with me."

"Good. That's a good idea. We can ask people to bring food with them to cut down on the stuff Equius and I have to do." Nepeta yawned and pitched sideways, resting her head in Feferi's lap. "Keep petting. It feels nice."

Feferi bit her lip, grinning, and continued playing with Nepeta's hair. She wasn't sure what it meant, but she knew she liked it.


	5. Act 5

He wasn't _avoiding_ Eridan—that would be stupid. No, he was just sitting in the library, trying to focus on his homework, and not going out of his way to tell Eridan where he was.

Sollux wasn't used to wearing rings anymore. He kept spinning Eridan's class ring around his finger under the table while he stared down at his chemistry book. The homework he'd put off all weekend was catching up to him, and he had approximately twenty-one hours left to actually finish the reading, but it was a lot more difficult than he imagined. Frankly, he would have been more than happy to just skip back to Saturday morning so he could finish his homework.

He chuckled to himself and shook his head. If he went back to Saturday morning, he was almost positive that his homework still wouldn't get done—presumably, Eridan would be back over at his apartment and he'd get distracted again. Not that it was a bad distraction or anything. He really liked spending time with Eridan, sex or not.

He just _really_ didn't want to tell Eridan that Vriska wanted his help. He knew it would cause a big thing and, while he knew that he and Eridan would be bound to fight at some point, he didn't want to argue with him right now.

As loathe as he was to admit it, her proposition actually intrigued him a little. It posed a really interesting challenge and, assuming Jade and Vriska were telling the truth, it would be the right thing to do. But operating under the pretext of Vriska's sincerity was dangerous—in his limited interactions with her, she hadn't proven to be the most sympathetic person. Jade, on the other hand...

Well, what did she actually know? They'd just become friends a very short time ago, so she probably got all of her information directly from Vriska, which led him back to square one. Even if Jade was entirely honest, it didn't mean she knew what she was talking about.

Then again, what if Vriska _was_ telling the truth? What if Aranea really _was_ the problem? He wasn't laboring under the delusion that Vriska was some kind of angel underneath her sister's influence, but maybe she wasn't quite as bad as she seemed. What if he could actually do something to help? He _really_ hated to admit it, but he kind of wanted to see what was really going on at the Serket house.

His phone buzzed on the table and he turned on the screen to see who it was. _Eridan._ Well, he knew he couldn't put it off forever.

_hey sol wwhere are you right noww_

He cringed but reluctantly typed out, _at the liibrary what about you_

He only got to read through two more sentences before Eridan's reply came in. _at the coffee shop... i thought wwe wwere supposed to meet here_

_Oh, shit._ He'd genuinely forgotten about that. He'd been so preoccupied with not wanting to upset Eridan that meeting at the coffee shop had completely slipped his mind. _fuck youre riight 2orry i forgot iim on my way there_

He stood up and began shoving his book and papers into his backpack, hoping Eridan wasn't too pissed-off at him. He definitely wasn't going to be happy when Sollux told him what Vriska had said, so he'd pretty much resigned himself to Eridan being rather upset in the first place, but now...

_fef's out a class already so wwere not gonna stay there wwell just go to my car_

"Fuck," he muttered. He swung his backpack over his shoulder and headed out the front door of the library. _are you headiing there now or what_

_no wwere wwaitin until you get here_

He let out a faint sigh of relief. Well, apparently Eridan wasn't _too_ mad at him (if he was mad at all), so he relaxed slightly but still hurried across campus. Everything was shutting down for the day and people were strolling toward the parking lots, talking and laughing. It definitely felt like a Monday night, though. There was the lurking feeling of imminent doom in the air. Also cold.

He made it to the coffee shop a few minutes later, zipping up his hoodie to block out some of the cold. Eridan and Feferi were waiting just inside the door, both of them carrying a coffee drink of some kind.

"Hey, Sollux!" Feferi said cheerily. He immediately didn't like the way she grinned at him—she knew something, and based on the light blush that started to color Eridan's cheeks, he had a pretty good idea that the previous two days had been a topic of conversation.

"Hey, FF. Hey, Eridan," he added, feeling the awkwardness increase slightly.

"You gettin' anythin'?" his boyfriend asked, gesturing toward the register. Behind the counter was a blonde who looked a lot like Rose and some guy with a sour look that Sollux didn't recognize.

"Nah, I'm good. Let's just go."

They walked along in silence for a few minutes and Sollux really hoped they'd be dropping of Feferi first. It wasn't that he didn't like her or anything—she was his boyfriend's best friend, for one thing, and she'd seemed to be gunning for them to get together in the first place, for another—but he felt awkward enough having this conversation with Eridan by himself. Adding someone else would make it that much more difficult.

However, taking him by surprise, she gave Eridan a tight hug when they got to the parking lot and swerved away from them. "She drove herself," Eridan explained at Sollux's puzzled look as she wandered down a row to their right.

"Oh. I thought she got a ride with you."

"She used to, until she drove her car down here a few weeks ago."

"Oh." He looked around for Eridan's BMW, but it was starting to get dark and he couldn't see all that well.

"This way." Eridan led him down another row of cars, pulling his keys from the pocket of his pea coat and twirling them around his finger. "So, what's this big thing you have to tell me?"

Sollux chewed on the inside of his lip for a few moments, trying to decide how to say it. "Vriska talked to me this morning."

Eridan paused, turned his head, and stared at him. "Vris? Talked to _you_? About what?"

"About... well, she basically said her sister is a colossal bitch—bigger than her, and—"

"That's probably true," Eridan muttered darkly.

"Huh?"

"What? Oh. The weekend a' the party, Cro told me that he dated her in high school. Aranea, Vris's sister. I guess even then, Aranea was instructin' Vris in the ways a' manipulation." Eridan unlocked his car and tossed his bag into the back seat.

Sollux nodded in acknowledgment as he slid into the passenger's seat, cradling his backpack. It certainly seemed like Vriska and Jade were telling the truth so far, but what about their claim that Aranea had killed Vriska's tarantula? That still sounded a little far-fetched.

Then again, wouldn't that be the perfect way to get someone to dismiss it? Do something so ridiculous that no one else would believe it.

He waited until Eridan had gotten into the driver's seat and started the car before continuing. "Well, Vriska and her friend Jade—that's the girl with the buckteeth, Jade—said that apparently Aranea doesn't like Vriska being friends with anyone else. Like she's really manipulative with Vriska too, I guess. So after Aranea met Jade, as a way of retaliation, she killed Vriska's pet spider."

Eridan's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "Aranea killed the Marquise?"

" _What?_ "

"Sorry, that's the name a' Vriska's tarantula. Marquise Mindfang or somethin'. She told me about it when we were datin'."

"Oh. Then yeah, she killed the Marquise."

Eridan exhaled sharply. "Vriska loved that thing. I bet she's _really_ pissed."

"She seems a bit shaken, yeah." Sollux scratched the back of his head. "Anyway, the only thing is, they can't really prove that Aranea killed the spider. So that's where I'm supposed to come in. They got all this surveillance stuff and I guess they need me to run it for them."

"They?"

"Vriska and Jade. They're both invested in making sure Aranea pays, I guess."

Eridan was quiet for a few moments. "Okay, and?"

"And I told them that I'd talk to you about it."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not going to help out yours and KN's psychotic ex-girlfriend if it's going to bother you."

"But you _do_ wanna help her?"

"Not if it's going to cause problems," Sollux repeated.

Eridan sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose under his glasses. "Okay. Um. Fuck. Let me think it over, okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

He ran his fingers over his hair for a moment. Sollux waited for him to say something—and he _knew_ he was going to say something. Eridan had a pensive look on his face, like it was bugging him. Finally, he said, "Why do you wanna help her, anyway?"

"It's not that I want to help _her_... it's... well, it's a challenge. Take her completely out of the equation—it sounds pretty interesting. Just the whole trying to catch Aranea being horrible thing. You have to admit that something like that would be rewarding." Also, it would give him a chance to flex his programming muscle, something he didn't get to do nearly as often as he would have liked.

Eridan just bit his lip and nodded. "Let me just talk it over with Cro."

"With him? Why?"

He sighed again. "He told me the weekend a' the party that he an' Aranea dated in high school, much like me an' Vris. So he knew her pretty well a few years ago—I wanna get his opinion on whether or not she'd be capable a' doin' somethin' like killin' Vriska's tarantula."

Sollux nodded. "I guess that makes sense." He waited for a minute or so until Eridan turned into the parking lot of Sollux's apartment complex. "You coming up or just heading home?"

A small smile tugged at Eridan's mouth. Sollux had a feeling he knew where "coming up" would lead and he certainly didn't mind the prospect. But Eridan just shook his head. "I gotta go home. You shoulda seen the suspicious look Cro gave me when I wandered in last night. Not that he minded havin' the apartment to himself all weekend, I'm sure, but I don't wanna give him the wrong idea."

"And by 'wrong idea,' you mean...?" Sollux asked, thinking Eridan was about to say something regarding the sexual part of their relationship. He unconsciously gripped his backpack a little tighter.

"That I'm leavin' anytime soon, a' course," Eridan said instead, grinning at him.

Sollux let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and grinned back. "Oh, okay. That's cool."

Eridan's grin widened and he tugged Sollux close by the hoodie. "I am nothin' if not undeniably cool," he breathed, his lips just barely skimming against Sollux's.

Sollux whispered, "Fuck off," before closing the gap between their mouths and kissing him, cradling the back of his head. He could feel the other boy smiling against his lips and knew that he'd given the intended response—Eridan already knew how to tease him, but it didn't really bother him that much. He was just happy that Eridan didn't seem to be mad at him or anything. Actually, he was dealing with the whole Vriska thing better than Sollux expected. He hoped it wasn't just a ruse.

He pulled back slightly, leaving about as much room between them as Eridan had done previously. "I'll let you get back to your fish now," he teased lightly.

Eridan groaned softly. "Fuck, I forgot all about them. I guess I should be takin' off, then." Still, he gave Sollux another longer-than-necessary kiss before letting him slip out of the car, slinging his backpack over one shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow," Eridan called as Sollux closed the door.

"Yeah, see you," he said through the glass. Again, the words _I love you_ bubbled up in his throat but he swallowed them back down again. It was still too early, and besides, his feet were already carrying him toward the door.

One week. They'd only been dating one week, and Sollux was already ready to profess his undying love. This wasn't good. He seriously needed to get a grip.


	6. Act 6

Eridan tried to slink into the apartment as quietly as possible, but he needn't have bothered. Cro was sitting on the couch, staring at the TV (tuned to TV Land again, but on mute). His bandage was finally gone and Eridan could see the two sets of stitches from where he'd been hit with the gun. His eyes were red and for a second, Eridan thought he was high again, but he realized he didn't smell marijuana in the living room at all and Cro's nose was red, too. He was _crying_.

"Whoa—Cro, man, what's wrong?" Eridan dropped his bag by the door and rushed over to the sofa.

Cro finally blinked and turned his head, blinking at Eridan as though surprised to see him. He automatically wiped at his nose. "Nothin', little monster, I'm fine."

"The hell, you are," Eridan snapped. "You're sittin' out here, watchin' shitty TV, an' cryin'. All you're missin' is a pint a' Ben & Jerry's, an' I'd say you..." His voice trailed off. "Did... did Meenah break up with you?"

For a few moments, Cronus didn't react. And then, with a quick jerk of his head, he nodded.

"Holy fuck. That colossal _bitch_!" he snapped, conveniently forgetting for a moment that that "colossal bitch" was his best friend's sister.

"It's fine," Cronus mumbled.

"The hell, it is! What happened?"

"She said she... didn't really see the relationship goin' anywhere. I guess I can kinda see her point, though. My life is a goddamn train wreck."

"No, man, come on, your life ain't a train wreck—what are you talkin' about?"

"It's okay, dude, you don't gotta sugarcoat it for me. My life's all kinds a' fucked-up. Come on—my smart mouth nearly got me killed a week ago. You can't deny that I should be dead."

"Okay, come here," Eridan sighed, slinging his arm around Cro's shoulders. He pulled until Cro got the idea and slumped to the side until his head was in Eridan's lap. It was a little awkward, but Eridan ignored it. "Your life ain't a train wreck. You've done some stupid shit an' said a _lot_ a' stupid shit, but that don't mean you're hopeless, okay? Breakups happen." He paused for a moment, suddenly wondering if that was what was going to happen with him and Sol. _I don't want to break up with him._ If Sol dumped him... how would he feel? Would his and Cro's roles be reversed? Would he be the one in a crying heap in the living room? "But one day, you're gonna find someone who doesn't think you're a train wreck either an' thinks you're the goddamn bee's knees." And now he was thinking about Sol again and his stupid obsession with bees. "So she didn't appreciate you. Someone will, though. You'll be fine. I mean, you're kinda funny sometimes—" his words had the intended effect because the corner of Cro's mouth quirked up in what almost passed for a smile "—an' you're not bad-lookin'—no homo, no incest," he added as a joke, and sure enough, Cro was definitely smiling now, and there was even a hint of teeth, "an' you dress—okay, maybe not, but you got a sweet-ass ride. Any girl—or guy," he added, nudging Cro slightly, as if to say, _I'm a surprisingly liberal cat too, fucker_ , "would be lucky to have you. Besides, now that you're single again, you get to go out an' fuck whoever you want."

Cro raised an eyebrow. "Are you suggestin' you regret gettin' with Sol because you miss all the sex you were havin' with multiple people?"

Several retorts came to mind. _I wasn't having sex in the first place_ made an appearance, running into _that's not really my thing_ , but in the end he settled for, "This ain't about me."

"Thought so." He sighed. "Well, I feel a little better. Can you go get me the Phish Food ice cream from the freezer?"

"You are shittin' me. You did _not_ actually go out an' get ice cream."

"Fuck yeah, I did. I need me some goddamn comfort food. An' bring me a spoon, too."

"You got a perfectly good pair a' legs—get it yourself."

"Hey, I just had my heart curb-stomped in soccer cleats. A little bit a' sympathy would be nice."

Eridan rolled his eyes but he knew he wouldn't be able to counter that argument. He grudgingly got up (being careful not to jostle Cro's head too much—he still had stitches, after all) and went to the kitchen. He dug out two spoons—there was no way he wasn't going to get in on some of this ice cream if he was going to be the one to get it—and went to the freezer to find the Phish Food ice cream Cro had bought.

There it was, nestled right in front of a box of newly-purchased breakfast sandwiches. Apparently Cro had done his own version of retail therapy involving a bunch of food. Eridan shrugged to himself and went back into the living room, ice cream and spoons in hand.

"Aw, sweet!" Cro snatched the ice cream out of his hand and flipped the top off before grabbing a spoon and digging in.

It actually wasn't so bad, sitting there with his brother while they stared at the still-muted TV. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes until the commercials came on—Eridan still couldn't figure out what show they were watching—and then he said, "Well, since we're talkin' about crazy ex-girlfriends, I figure I might as well ask now. Sol was tellin' me—"

"Sol's a crazy ex-girlfriend now?" Cro joked around a spoonful of Phish Food.

Eridan laughed sarcastically. "Ha-ha-ha. No. You didn't let me finish, jackass. No, apparently Vris came up to him an' talked to him today about... well, somethin' she's pretty sure Aranea did."

Cro raised an eyebrow, his spoon pausing on the way to his mouth. "Somethin' _Aranea_ did? That's a little weird."

"Yeah, well, I want you to tell me if you think it's somethin' she might actually do. Sol says that Vris says that she thinks Aranea killed her pet tarantula."

Cro blinked for a few moments and slowly set his spoon back in the ice cream carton. "Vriska's tarantula or her own?"

"Vriska's."

"Hmm. Yeah, actually, I wouldn't put it past her. She must a' been _real_ pissed-off at Vris, though. Like crazy pissed-off."

"I guess she probably was. Like, you said yourself that Aranea's really manipulative, right?"

"That's puttin' it mildly."

"Right. Well, apparently, she doesn't like Vris havin' friends, even."

"Yeah, I got that impression in high school. You shoulda heard how Aranea talked about her—it was like she wasn't even a person."

Eridan swallowed unconsciously. He hadn't expected to actually feel bad for Vriska, but he was starting to. It seemed that he'd perhaps judged her a bit harshly—and besides, it was two and a half years ago. He was well over it. Well, mostly. "So I guess after Aranea met Vriska's new friend Jade, Aranea retaliated by killin' Vriska's tarantula."

Cro nodded slowly and picked his spoon back up. "Yeah, she definitely seems capable a' that. I mean, it _has_ been a few years since I've spoken to her, but I can't imagine she's changed that much since then." He paused for a moment. "Why the fuck did Vris tell _Sol_ this?"

"Because she wants his help with provin' that Aranea did it. I... really don't know how they're plannin' on doin' that—I guess like she can't prove that she _did_ it, but Vris wants evidence that she's a manipulative bitch."

"Is he gonna help her?"

Eridan bit his lip. "I dunno. Maybe. He told me about it an' said he _wanted_ to, but he wouldn't do it if it would bother me, so I guess it's up to me."

Cro yawned and finally set his spoon down. Eridan hadn't realized until just now—they'd worked their way through half of the carton. "So, what's it gonna be?"

"I haven't decided completely, but... well, if Vris is bein' honest, then I think she's the real victim here, an'... I guess I'm okay with him helpin' if he wants to."

"Seems logical. Just make sure what if you guys do anythin' illegal to keep my name out a' it."

Eridan gave a snort of laughter and shook his head. "I don't think it'll be anythin' _illegal_ , come on."

"You never know." Cro picked up the remote on the coffee table and unmuted the TV, and for a few more minutes, Eridan sat with him and watched the show. He still couldn't figure out what it was, though, and after the commercials came on again, he got up, picked up his backpack, and slunk into his room.

His fish were still alive for the time being, but he sprinkled a little more food into the tank anyway and sat down at his desk. He had Biology homework from today to do but the more pressing issue was his Government and Calculus homework which was due tomorrow—a series of in-depth questions that required a paragraph per answer and fifty problems on a worksheet. He'd had all weekend to do his homework in theory, but the practice hadn't panned out so well.

He smirked. Given the choice between doing homework and getting laid, he'd pick sex every time.

But his homework couldn't be put off any longer, so he finally sighed and opened up his Calculus book.

* * *

About an hour and a half later, Cro knocked on his door. "Hey, I'm gonna order a pizza. Half veggie, half-pepperoni good? Half for you, half for me?"

Eridan blinked. He hadn't even realized how hungry he was—he'd had a bit of ice cream, but it had all burned off by now. "Uh, yeah, sounds good. I could eat."

"Alright, cool." Cro's footsteps retreated and Eridan yawned and stretched. He was nearly finished with Calculus, but that was only because he'd been working on both Calculus and Government at the same time. Government was completely finished, and he was exhausted. Still, part of him wished Sol was here right now—he was in a cuddling mood and even though Sol was all elbows and angles, he was warm and Eridan still liked holding him.

He drew his knees up to his chest and grinned like an idiot, hiding his face from nothing. He really liked Sol a lot, actually. Even though they'd gotten on each other's nerves in the beginning, it was probably just previously-unresolved sexual tension. Now they didn't have that problem, although he secretly kind of liked how Sol looked when he was at full rage after one of Eridan's pranks. He imagined he could see red and blue sparks flying out of Sol's eyes when he was really angry, not that he'd ever admit it out loud.

He spun his chair around a couple of times and picked up his phone. _hey sol wwhatcha doin_

He only had to wait a few minutes before his phone buzzed, heralding his reply. _ju2t the homework that ii 2hould have been doiing thii2 weekend_

_oh good its not just me then so listen i talked it ovver wwith cro_

_the thiing wiith vrii2ka?_

_yeah an he wwas sayin that she wwould definitely do somethiin like kill vvriskas spider_

_um_

_wwhat_

_you u2ed my quiirk_

_wwait wwhat_

_yeah when you 2aid "somethiin"_

Eridan blinked and scrolled up. _Oh. What the hell?_ Sol was right—he'd unintentionally adopted his boyfriend's quirk. That had happened a few weeks before, but only with Fef as a witness. _oops wwell oh wwell its not important right the important thing is that if you wwanna help vvris try to bring aranea to justice or wwhatevver i dont havve a problem wwith it_

While he waited for Sol's answer, he impatiently did his last few Calculus problems, went over to his bed, and jumped on it for a few seconds. He quickly stopped when he smashed his head on the ceiling and he dropped, rubbing his scalp. "Stupid ceilin'," he muttered.

Then his phone finally lit up and he nearly sprinted to it. _you 2ure youre okay wiith iit_

 _yeah i really am._ He briefly considered inviting Sol over for dinner—now that his homework was done, he could definitely use some cuddling to relax, and besides, it had felt weird falling asleep alone last night. In two nights, he'd gotten entirely too used to sleeping next to him like it was the most natural thing in the world. But Sol was probably tired of looking at his face for awhile and besides, if things progressed beyond just spooning (which was not out of the realm of possibility), he didn't have any lube and he didn't want to just say _Hey, Sol, let's hang out and bring the lube just in case_. So he decided against it and just sent the text message as it was.

Still, when he finally crawled in bed for the night, it was to wishing Sol was pressed up against him, wrapped in his arms.


	7. Act 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for how long this took! I needed a bit of a break... no guarantees that it won't happen again, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of writing every day again!

Nepeta found herself more and more excited for Wednesday night as Monday evening faded into Tuesday and Tuesday evening faded into Wednesday. She carefully divided her free time between texting Equius (who expressed nothing but satisfaction that her love of matchmaking had finally been turned upon herself) and hanging out with Feferi (who seemed just as excited as she did about the double date). Nepeta couldn't actually remember the last time she'd gone on a date, so she was also a bit nervous, but Feferi reassured her that it would be fun.

More than anything, Nepeta just wanted to be happy. She was able to fake it fairly well when she wasn't, but she was always content to spend time with a few close friends. Large groups weren't really her thing—the party at Eridan's house being the first exception in several months. It was one of the few things she had in common with Equius, although for vastly different reasons. Equius was a bit socially awkward and rather weird, and he came off as very formal and practically pompous, so he wasn't able to make friends easily, while Nepeta simply preferred to focus on a few people at a time when she got to know them. In fact, aside from Equius, Feferi was the first person in a good long while who was able to pull her focus completely away from external distractions. Around Sollux or Eridan, she found herself attempting to dig up tiny details about their relationship—not for any gossipy purpose, but because those interpersonal details genuinely interested her. With Aradia, it was all about her relationship with Equius. And so on with most of their wide circle of friends.

Feferi, on the other hand, was interesting enough in her own right so that Nepeta barely wondered about those things. Of course, the fact that she was single for the moment was another reason. Still, Nepeta began to wonder if maybe this was a mistake.

She wasn't an idiot, after all. She'd had major crushes on people before, and while John was nice enough (she'd certainly liked him a few weeks ago, back before their group knitted a little tighter together), she slowly began to realize that she was really looking forward to the movie date not for _him_ , but for the additional chance to spend time with Feferi.

It was an awkward realization, but she wasn't willing to call off the date just because her feelings toward Feferi were progressing to something she hadn't initially anticipated. Nepeta wasn't the depressive, wallowing, self-pitying type of person to lament and wail when the object of her affections didn't reciprocate her feelings, though. She could be happy remaining friends with that person, and besides, she generally found that any serious romantic feelings would diminish with enough time and exposure. That would be enough, and then she could move on.

So she kept those feelings to herself and set up camp at Feferi's table every chance she got in order to better enjoy her company. Her presence seemed to please Feferi, anyway, so she was willing to keep coming back.

Sometimes, she was even able to forget that John and Dave were supposed to be accompanying them on their double date as well.

* * *

Once Wednesday night actually rolled around, though, it was a little more difficult to forget that fact. For one thing, Feferi swung by Nepeta's place last after picking up John and Dave from Dave's brother's apartment, meaning that by the time Nepeta had picked out her nicest jeans and her favorite olive-green shirt (it had black paw prints on it) and attempted to comb out her hair ("attempted" being the operative word; there was no force on Earth that could tame it), the other three were already packed into Feferi's car, Dave next to Feferi in the front and John scooting over to make room for her in the back.

Feferi wore her hair like a crown, her bangs pulled back behind her head, and Nepeta amused herself with imagining Eridan braiding gold strands into it. For once, she didn't have her goggles around her neck or a bathing suit under her clothes; her skirt was flowing and knee-length, black and lacy, and her fuchsia shirt had a plunging V-neck. Nepeta was glad she couldn't get a really good look from the back seat.

"Ready to go?" Feferi asked everyone and no one excitedly.

Dave Strider, for all his unflappable coolness, grinned behind his sunglasses. "You bet."

John mostly steered the conversation, talking about a video game he and Dave had started playing over the weekend with Rose called _Sburb_. They were on the prowl for a fourth player, but it seemed too convoluted for Nepeta to follow and Feferi claimed to be far too busy with swim meets and other extracurricular activities to be able to devote the necessary time to playing. The conversation took them all the way up to the ticket line, and then they all went quiet, staring up at the movies playing.

"So, what do you guys wanna see?" John asked.

" _Bad Grandpa_ ," Dave said immediately.

"But the next show time for that is an hour and a half from now," Feferi pointed out. " _Carrie_ starts in ten minutes."

Nepeta nodded while internally cheering. "Seconded for _Carrie_."

"I kind of wanted to see that, too," John said, shrugging. "I'm okay with it if you are." This, he directed at Dave, with a plaintive look that was almost adorable. For several long seconds, Dave just stared at him, his expression completely obscured by his sunglasses, until he sighed and shook his head.

"Don't give me that look. _Carrie_ it is."

Nepeta had to fight the urge to climb onto someone's shoulders to celebrate. She didn't have anything against _Bad Grandpa_ , but she'd been mentally gearing herself up for _Carrie_ for the past two days.

"Four for _Carrie_ ," Feferi said sweetly to the ticket agent.

"You don't—" Dave started, immediately attempting to protest, but Feferi whipped around.

" _Clam_ up, Strider," she said, sounding just as sweet as a moment before, but with a ferocity in her eyes that had Nepeta swooning. For all of Feferi's love of water, she could be rather fiery sometimes, and Nepeta really liked that.

The ticket agent cleared her throat. "Students?"

"Yep!" Feferi flashed her student ID and the ticket price dropped from forty dollars to thirty-two. The ticket machine spat out four tickets and the ticket agent handed slid them under the tiny slit in the glass.

"Enjoy your movie," she said, and Feferi grinned.

"We will, thanks!" She turned and handed out the tickets, leading the way to the doors leading inside the theater lobby.

They let the guy tear their ticket stubs and then they got concessions since they had enough time before even the previews started. Nepeta hadn't eaten dinner, so she ordered two hot dogs and a large popcorn along with a jumbo bag of Sour Patch Kids and a large Cherry Coke.

John laughed. "Are you sure you're going to be able to eat that all?"

"Just watch me, human," she said smugly, starting to hand over her debit card, but Feferi swooped in.

"Two slices of pizza for me and a medium Mr. Pibb, and put it all on mine."

"But—" Nepeta started, but Feferi just smiled and shook her head.

"Don't worry about it. I got it. Either of you want anything?" she added to John and Dave.

Their each got popcorn to go with the movie and Dave also got a small container of Parmesan flavor to sprinkle on top of it. Once they all had their food in hand, Dave led their small procession to theater 12, where the movie was.

The movie had been out for a little while, so they were able to get seats right in the middle of everything. There was a slight kerfuffle as they organized themselves, but it finally ended up with Nepeta and Feferi in the middle Dave on Feferi's other side and John next to Nepeta. This suited Nepeta fairly well; she tucked her legs underneath her, set her popcorn on the floor, placed her soda in the cup holder on her armrest, wedged her candy between her seat and Feferi's, and began munching on her hot dogs in relative peace. They only waited for another two minutes before the lights dimmed and the pre-previews blacked out from the screen. Then the previews started rolling and Nepeta finished off her first hot dog and reached for her Cherry Coke to wash it down.

And that was when the trouble really started. Nepeta hadn't realized that Feferi was resting her arm on that particular arm rest and she misjudged the distance between herself and her soda. She reached out, grabbing for the soda, but her hand fell a few inches too short and ended up grabbing onto Feferi's hand instead.

The sad thing was, it took her a second to realize her mistake, but when she did, she let out a shocked whimper and blushed, quickly letting go of Feferi's hand and finally seizing her soft drink. She contemplated apologizing but figured that it would just add to the awkwardness of the moment and, anyway, she was pretty sure even her teeth were blushing, so she just pretended it didn't happen and pretended that she didn't like holding Feferi's hand, either.

Not too long after that, Nepeta had to try to subtly reach between herself and Feferi to get the bag of Sour Patch Kids that she'd wedged between them earlier to munch on them. She was a nervous eater and her popcorn was, at the moment, out of her reach, so she opted for the candy instead and reached out her hand.

But the universe seemed to be conspiring against her because, instead of setting her hand down on the plastic bag, her hand found Feferi's leg. Feferi almost immediately looked over, and Nepeta squeaked and pulled back her hand.

Feferi grinned. "Looking for these?" she whispered, holding up Nepeta's bag of candy.

Nepeta nodded, blushing furiously. She'd never focused her shipping goggles on herself before, but now that she was, she could almost imagine that Feferi was flirting with her. Then again, it could very well have been her imagination.

And on it went through the whole movie. Nepeta would accidentally brush against Feferi in some innocuous way and wonder if maybe the other girl was doing it on purpose and just hope that John didn't notice that she was paying more attention to Feferi than to him. He didn't seem to notice, though—he kept checking his phone, and when he wasn't, he was looking straight ahead at the screen.

By the time _Carrie_ was over, Nepeta had indeed scarfed down all her food and was left squirming in her seat; the large soda had gone right through her and she needed a trip to the little girls' room. The four of them made their way out of the theater and Nepeta made a beeline for the bathroom while the other three lingered outside, talking idly. Once she was out, Feferi swung her car keys around her fingers. "Anyone want to do any _fin_ else?"

"I have some homework left," John said apologetically.

"Same," Dave said.

Nepeta had finished all of her homework, so she didn't say anything, but Feferi nodded. "Alright, I'll take you _buoys_ home then."

Again, they piled into Feferi's car, exactly like before. The only difference was that this time, no one said anything. Nepeta wasn't sure if it was just her, but it felt like they were all waiting for something, like they all sensed that something was happening or about to happen. There was some cosmic shift taking place, and while she couldn't put a name to it, surely she couldn't be the only one to feel it, right?

No one acknowledged it. It wasn't until Feferi rolled to a stop in front of Dave's apartment complex that the silence was broken. "I had a good time," he said. "We should do it again."

"Yeah," John agreed as the two of them climbed out. "Definitely.

" _Shore_ thing," Feferi said cheerfully. Dave and John slammed their car doors closed behind them and headed to the door of the lobby, and Feferi twisted in her seat to look at Nepeta. "You don't have to sit back there, you know," she said, flashing Nepeta a cheerful grin. "Plenty of room up here."

Nepeta really liked that smile aimed at her. "Okay!" She bolted out of the back and hopped into the passenger's seat.

A few more minutes passed by in silence until Feferi finally said, "So John seemed nice."

"Yeah, he is," Nepeta agreed.

"Do you actually like him, though?"

"He's nice," Nepeta insisted. "He's a great _fur_ iend. I just don't... think that I _like_ him. Not romantically, anyway."

Feferi nodded slowly. "I know what you mean. Dave's cool and all, but there's nothing there. Not like..." She blushed. "Well, anyway, you want me to take you home? Or did you want to go somewhere else? The night, as they say, is still young," she added, grinning again as she pulled into a gas station.

"I think Aradia is over at our place right now," Nepeta said. "I like her, but she and Equius are... well, I don't really want to get between them," she said with a small smile. "I'm okay with doing something else."

Feferi parked and unbuckled her seat belt. "Some _fin_ like what?"

"I hadn't really thought about it." Nepeta loosened the strap of her seat belt and twisted around to face Feferi's seat. Feferi was chewing on her lip and staring out the windshield.

All of a sudden, she turned her head to look at Nepeta. She blinked slowly—Nepeta's heart rate picked up; she was pretty sure where this was going and she couldn't believe it—and then Feferi leaned toward her, so close that Nepeta could see the screws holding Feferi's glasses together, and she found herself leaning in as well until her lips brushed against Feferi's.

The other girl's eyes closed for a moment and she didn't pull away, and Nepeta mentally high-fived herself. For once, she was glad her initial match was wrong. She was certain she could make Feferi _much_ happier than Dave could.

"Let me gas up," Feferi said quietly, turning a little pink even as she grinned. "And then we can continue this conversation."

Nepeta giggled as Feferi got out of the car, and she buried her face in her hands. She couldn't wait to tell everyone about this tomorrow.


	8. Gigapause: Commence

**Gigapause: Commence.**

You'll notice this isn't a “chapter.” That's because there are other things going on in my life. Most notably, on August 22 (next Friday), my ship is deploying for approximately ten months.

_Updates will be halted until then._

Unless I somehow manage to find time to write in between the other three thousand things I happen to have to do while we're gone, _do not_ expect an update on any of my fics from next Friday until June of next year.

If you're a new reader who's just going through my stories, please, I beg you, _do not comment with “Update soon!!!11!1”_

It will not happen, and you should know very well why not. If you do comment like that, I'll assume you haven't read this or are deliberately ignoring it.

Okay, now then, stay safe until I speak to you next!


End file.
